Hi all,
We are new to Schaffhausen and looking for recommendations on where to take our kids for their first ski trip. First time skiing for a 4yr and 6yr old. We are both skiers but think it best to find a good ski-school for the morning and we'd take them out in the afternoon. Or if it is a great ski-school, maybe we'd all be happier with a full day option! Open to Swiss slopes or traveling to Germany or Austria. We are looking at pre-Christmas week so don't know what snow conditions will be like. Any suggestions are appreciated!

Austria. Money goes further.

Try searching under Seefeld in Tirol. We have been often with small children and loved it. For example, there are several hotels in the Kaltschmidt group that cater especially for children and have free daycare for children so if they are not so keen on skiing, they can stay at the hotel and still have fun. The Seefeld Ski School is also great and has good provision for children who are just learning, including lunch provision if required.

You can often get Seefeld hotels in the Aldi brochure .. making it extra good value indeed. (www.aldi-suisse-tours.ch)

I really recommend the Gorfion kids hotel in Malbun (Liechenstein), http://gorfion.s-hotels.com/en-gorfion-index.shtml. The skiing is good for learners and intermediates, the hotel is next to the ski meeting place and the hotel is excellent with a wide range of kids activities. My 4yo learnt to ski there.

We drove, but friends took the train and bus and said it was an easy trip. The bus stop is a few yards form the hotel.

We've been several times now with our kids (now 7 and 4) to Grindelwald. Ski lessons are excellent there - they have a great ski school with it's own big separate area for the kids who are complete beginners. Older ones ride the cable car with their teacher. The only thing I would say is if you want morning lessons (which are usually best for kids) then you need to pre book. There is also a brilliant daycare right at the ski school if your kids want a non-skiing afternoon of drawing/playing/mucking about and you yourselves want to do a bit more skiing. The other thing we always liked about Grindelwald is that being such a touristy place there are loads of non-skiing things to do (like sledging, skating, swimming, snowshoe walks, just riding the train.)